Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 27 : Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav on Sunday slammed Raghav Chadha and other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs defecting to the BJP.
Yadav's criticism centred on the nature of Rajya Sabha appointments. Unlike members of the Lok Sabha, who are directly elected by the public, Rajya Sabha members are nominated by their parties and elected by state legislative assemblies.
Yadav argued that jumping ship after being hand-picked by a party leadership is a fundamental betrayal of trust.
"The party due to which you became a Rajya Sabha MP--as you did not get elected [by the public]--the party reposed faith in you and you crossed over to another party. This amounts to treason," Yadav told reporters.
Her remarks come after Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal parted ways with the AAP on Friday and subsequently joined the BJP in the presence of party president Nitin Nabin.
Addressing a presser in the national capital, Chadha informed that Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal have also switched to the BJP.
Raghav Chadha said that they have informed the Chairman of the House, in accordance with the rules, of leaving the party. He formalised a split that had been building for weeks, announcing that two-thirds of the party's Upper House members would merge with the BJP.
Meanwhile, Raghav Chadha, on Saturday, after his exit from AAP, alleged that the party has deviated from its core principles and no longer provides space for honest workers.
"Today, every true patriot who nurtured the Aam Aadmi Party with their blood and sweat and joined it with great expectations has either left the Aam Aadmi Party or is leaving it. Every honest, hardworking person feels that there is no longer room for work in the Aam Aadmi Party. And the Aam Aadmi Party is now walking on a wrong path that no one wants to be associated with. Consequently, one by one, many leaders have left the Aam Aadmi Party," Chadha said.
Following this, Aam Aadmi Party's Youth Wing on Saturday staged aggressive protests against the seven Rajya Sabha MPs who recently merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Demonstrators targeted the residences of these MPs, branding them "Gaddar" (traitor) in a series of coordinated demonstrations across Punjab.